PEOPLEQadisiyya, the Muslims were obliged to live on what they plundered,
and it was in this period that the rural economy of central Iraq was
seriously disrupted by the attacks of Muthanna and his lieutenants.
These raids ranged from Kaskar to Hira in the south; north through
the two Fallujas across the Nahr Sura to Kutha, Nahr al-Malik, and
Baduraya; and west through al-'Ali to the Jazira.^61 Villages were
pillaged around Sabat,62 and at Khanafis, north of Anbar, Muthanna
raided a marketplace held and guarded by RabI'a and QUQa'a tribes-
men, including the Kalb and Bakr ibn Wa'il. The marketplace was
plundered, destroyed, and razed to the ground, and those who escaped
death were taken captive.^63 Muthanna followed this with a raid on
the fair at Baghdad,64 and, after returning to Anbar, he raided the
encampment at Siffin of the Taghlib and Namir, who fled across the
Euphrates to the Jazira, where they fortified themselves.^65 Shortly af-
terwards, Muthanna attacked the camp of the Dhii r-RuwayJ:tila clan
of Taghlib, killing the fighting men and taking the children captive.^66
Another series of raids was conducted by Nusayr ibn Daysam, who
attacked an encampment of the Taghlib in central Mesopotamia and
took booty and captives, raided villages in Maskin and Qatrabbul,
and carried off camels and goats from the vicinity of Takrit.^67
As the conflict approached its climax before the Battle of Qadisiyya,
the Muslims continued to supply themselves with fodder and food by
raiding Iraq from Kaskar to Anbar, including a camel lifting at the
expense of Taghlib and Namir.68 It was only at the siege of Takrit in
637 that the Arabs of Taghlib, Iyad, and Namir inside the walls agreed
to accept Islam and helped the Muslims to take the town. 69
The fate of the captives taken in these campaigns and raids was
similar to that of the Persian captives. Most of the Arab captives were
women and children of the·tribes of Namir and Taghlib and were
carried off to the Hijaz as slaves or mawiilt. Arabs were taken captive
at 'Ayn Tamr, Dumat Jandal, Thani, Zumayl, Khanafis, and at Tagh-
61 Baiadhuri, FutUi;, pp. 254-55; Dinawari, Akhbiirat-pwiil, p. 121; Tabari, Ta'fikh,
1,2203.
62 Tabari, Ta'fikh, I, 2199.
63 Baladhuri, FutUi;, p. 246; Tabari, Ta'rfkh, I, 2203.
64 Baiadhuri, Futui;, p. 246; Dinawari, Akhbiir at-tiwiil, pp. 121-22; Tabari, Ta'rfkh,
1,2204-5.
65 Tabari, Ta'rfkh, I, 2206.
66 Ibid., I, 2207.
67 Baladhuri, Futui;, pp. 248-49.
68 Baladhuri, FutUi;, p. 256; Tabari, Ta'rfkh, I, 2235, 2245.
69 Tabari, Ta'rfkh, I, 2476.